Australia's Origin Energy reports 84% jump in annual underlying profit

Australia's Origin Energy on August 17 announced an 83.5% year/year jump in underlying profit for the year that ended on June 30, 2023, attributed to notable improvements across energy markets and integrated gas segments.

The company's underlying profit, which excludes exceptional items, rose to A$747mn ($477mn), a substantial rise from A$407mn in the preceding year. Furthermore, the net profit for the entire year reached A$1.06bn, marking a turnaround from the A$1.43bn loss recorded in the previous year.

Origin CEO Frank Calabria said, “Operational performance right across Origin was strong this year, with higher earnings contributions from energy markets, integrated gas, and Octopus Energy in the UK.”

“Australia Pacific LNG delivered record revenue and cash distributions to Origin as it benefited from elevated commodity prices, while continuing to meet the gas needs of export customers and as one of the largest suppliers to the east coast domestic market,” he added.

Looking ahead, Origin expects a leap in operating earnings within the energy markets segment for the fiscal year ending in June 2024. The company anticipates underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) to range between A$1.3bn and A$1.7bn, marking a notable increase from the A$1.04bn reported in the previous year.

A consortium of Brookfield Asset Management and MidOcean Energy, a unit of EIG, recently signed a binding scheme implementation deed to acquire Origin for an enterprise value of A$18.7bn.

According to the deal, Brookfield would acquire Origin’s energy markets business and MidOcean would acquire the integrated gas business including a 27.5% interest in Queensland-based APLNG.